


reunions

by joshriku



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:39:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28993059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshriku/pseuds/joshriku
Summary: Axel, Naminé, and Riku get the reunion they didnʼt know they wanted, but needed.
Relationships: Axel & Naminé & Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	reunions

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry YYYYY i read the kh2 novel and i was hit with the found family between these 3

“Well, where do you wanna go?” Riku asks Naminé.

He can’t help the giddy smile seeing his friend back, all in one piece and not leaving anytime soon. It took a while, but they got her back: Naminé is on one of the seats inside the Gummi Ship, awed at her surroundings.

“I…” Naminé blinks at him, still in awe. “I have no idea!”

She laughs, seemingly delighted - Riku can’t help but laugh along. It’s good, then, that her only concern at the moment is not knowing where to go. She stops laughing, asking, “Can’t we get Axel?”

Axel? Now that Riku thinks about it, it’s been a while since they all last hung out together. His memories of their hangouts are pleasant, albeit their situation wasn’t pleasant at all. Riku nods. “Let me give him a call. Actually, why don’t you come over here? I’m sure he’ll flip if he sees you.”

Naminé smiles, mischievous. “Am I really going to scare him as soon as I come back?”

Riku shrugs. “Why not?”

“...Good point,” Naminé says. “Is that… a phone?”

“Oh, yeah. Remind me to ask for yours, as well,” Riku says, dialing up Axel. “He’ll pick up soon, hopefully.”

“Hey, what’s -” Axel’s eyes widened immediately. “Woah?! Where did  _ you  _ come from?”

Naminé bursts into laughter. “Hi, Axel!”

“Hey! What is this?” he laughs, too. Riku’s own smile is pretty hard to wipe off. “When did you come back?”

“Just a while ago,” Naminé answers. “Riku came to pick me up. We want to go to another world, but I was wondering if you’d come along?”

Axel scratches his head. “I dunno, are you sure? Don’t you have more fun with Riku?”

“I do, but I want to see you,” she presses on. “It’s been a while. I missed you!”

He laughs. “Fine, fine. I see I’m popular with the kids. Everyone loves Axel, huh?”

“I’m hanging up,” Riku deadpans.

“Stop being rude!” Axel shakes his head. “I’ll be waiting. Riku, you driving?”

“Yup. In the meantime, think of a world you want to go. I’ll be there soon.”

Axel winks at them and hangs up. Naminé giggles, excited. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Riku grins. “You excited?”

“Are you kidding? Yes! This is all I’ve ever wanted!” She pauses, briefly, like something turned on in her brain. “I wonder… if I deserve all this.”

Oh, Riku knows this mentality too well.  _ Am I still worthy enough to wield the Keyblade? Do I deserve to see my friends?  _ It’s an endless loop, the hardest mentality to break out of. So Riku turns around and holds her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ve done more than enough for all of us. I don’t think we’d be here without you. I know it’s hard, but you have to trust me.”

Naminé squeezes his hand back. “Thank you. I’m sorry to bring the mood down so suddenly…”

Letting go, he waves around, trying to dismiss it. “You’re fine. Strap in, we’re going to Twilight Town. Ready?”

She nods enthusiastically. “Ready!”

—

“Look who joined the real people gang!” Axel grins when he sees them. 

Naminé runs for it, leaping at Axel, and honestly—being  _ really  _ lucky that he catches her. “Wow, wow! Jeez! Whatʼs gotten into you?” 

“Iʼm just happy,” Naminé grins, breaking the hug. She walks over to Riku again, dragging him so the three of them can be closer. “Itʼs good to be back.”

Riku ruffles her hair. “Itʼs nice to have you.” Then, he asks, “Has anyone thought of a place to go yet?” 

Naminé says “No,” regretfully, while Axel says it proudly. “What? Youʼre the leader. You choose.”

Riku frowns at him. “Youʼre older than me. You should lead.”

“Ah-ah-ah. Which one of us is the Keyblade Master, and therefore more suited to lead? Thatʼs right!” 

Naminé perks up. “Thatʼs true. Youʼre Master Riku now!” 

“Youʼre taking  _ his  _ side?” Riku says, offended, and Naminé smiles at him unapologetically. “Whatever, fine. Iʼve been meaning to visit the Kingdom of Corona. Howʼs that sound?” 

Axel and Naminé nod. Riku jerks his head to the ship. “Letʼs get going, then.”

-

“Shouldn’t we introduce ourselves to someone?” Naminé asks, walking near Riku, holding onto his jacket every now and then. “I feel like we’re being impolite.”

“Nah. Look around!” Axel gestures at the whole crowd. Truly, it seems they picked a day where  _ everyone  _ was outside to come. “Who’d we even say hi to? We’re blending in just fine.”

“If you say so…” Naminé still looks around, hesitant. She lets go of Riku’s jacket again, when her eyes catch up on something - the left side of the town. “Hey, there are more things down there. It’s less crowded.”

Riku tilts his head, “Wanna go there?”

She nods. Axel shrugs, so the three of them make their way down. Immediately, everything is a lot quieter in this part of town. Maybe they  _ are  _ quieter people, preferring the peaceful crash of waves and the nice scenery. Naminé rushes to the dock, excited to crouch down and touch the water with her hand. Riku, instead, looks around. He’s a little hungry. 

Someone’s selling corn dogs - because of course they are - and well, this isn’t ice cream, but it’ll do. He joins Axel and Naminé at the dock, sitting down next to her, careful to not get too close and wet his shoes. Naminé happily accepts the food, swinging her legs. It’s good; it fills Riku’s heart with warmth seeing her so carefree. So  _ alive.  _ He smiles at her and looks away. “Who would’ve thought, huh, that we’d get to hang out again?”

“I always had hope we would,” Naminé says. “Even when everything was so glum, I just… wanted to believe it would all work out for us.”

“Heh, well. You’ve always been the most optimistic out of us three,” Axel says, highlighting each word by moving his corn dog. It’s a little weird to not see him do that with ice cream. “And that’s saying a lot, given that the bar of optimism between us back then was on the floor.”

“Hey!” Riku says, half-heartedly. “Now that I think about it… yeah, the optimism was pretty much underground back then.”

“It’s good to be here now, though,” she continues, staring ahead at the horizon. “I’d never thought I’d get to enjoy other worlds like this.”

“This is the first of many,” Riku promises. “I can always drive you around.”

“Oooh, chauffeur Riku? Man, Keyblade Master-ing just doesn’t pay bills, huh?”

Riku laughs. “No, it really doesn’t. Gonna make munny somehow, right?”

Axel chuckles. “Naminé, do you have any place to stay yet?”

She gasps. “I forgot I need one of those.”

“The islands are available if you want to come with me,” he says, then forces his brain to think of other alternatives if she wasn’t comfortable with that. “We can also ask Leon if he has spare rooms in Radiant Garden. And the Land of Departure is pretty empty besides Terra, Aqua, and Ven.”

“We got an extra room too, y’know,” Axel offers as well. “One more won’t hurt. Roxas and Xion would be thrilled.”

Naminé nods. “I think I need time to make a decision, but thank you. I’m really happy to be here. I know I said it already, but… I didn’t expect everyone to have missed me.”

Riku puts an arm around her, squeezing briefly. “You’re important to us. Right, Axel?”

Axel scratches his head, slightly embarrassed. “‘Course. We wanted you to be okay.”

“Stop it, or I’m going to cry.”

“I can push you into the water so no one will see you cry,” Axel responds to her.

“Wh--no! Axel!”

“Relax, I won’t!” He laughs. “Or will I? Keep your guard up, kid.”

-

“I think this is a good place to take a pic,” Riku says. They’re up in one of the towers now, looking at everything down as the sun sets. He hands the phone to Axel, because whether he likes it or not, his arms are way longer than Riku’s. 

Axel tries to find the right angle. “Okay, but no one post this online.”

“Why not?” asks Naminé.

“Whaddaya mean, ‘why not?’ I can’t be seen hanging out with you losers. Got it memorized?” he jokes, until Naminé swats his arm. “Jeez, Iʼm joking. Now everyone, get in position and smile in three… two… one!”

He snaps the pic and it  _ is  _ a nice one. The three of them look happy, which again, itʼs not a sight Riku would ever think to see. Heʼs reminded of Naminé's old sketches of the three of them smiling brightly, which causes warmth to spread across his chest—they finally did it, huh? 

One look at Naminé tells him sheʼs thinking the same thing. Her smile and her eyes glued to the screen say everything. Riku canʼt help the pat on her head, smiling softly. 

They should head back soon. The sun is already setting, and they—wait. Why should they? 

Riku grins. “Anyone feeling up for dancing?” 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> im obsessed w the kh novels but most importantly w Them
> 
> [tumblr](http://joshriku.tumblr.com/)  
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> 


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